ConstitutionDAO loses auction for a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution

On Thursday, November 18, 2021, an unknown buyer purchased at Sotheby’s auction a historically valuable copy of the U.S. Constitution for $43.2 million. A DAO, formed by a group of crypto investors to purchase the artifact, could not top the bid.

A week before the auction, enthusiasts launched the ConstitutionDAO project in the form of a DAO with the aim of winning the auction for one of the 13 surviving copies of the first edition of the Constitution. In 1787, 500 copies of the document were printed for the Continental Congress and delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Had they won, the community planned to display the artifact for the public in one of the museums.

DAO participants received PEOPLE governance tokens proportional to their contributions in Ethereum. The coins did not confer ownership of the historical document, but allowed participation in decisions related to its placement.

Before the auction, the lot was valued at $15-$20 million, and the group aimed to raise up to the top end of the range. The amount pledged over the week exceeded $40 million.

“Our bid for the copy of the Constitution did not win. While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, we continued tonight to make history with ConstitutionDAO. This is the largest known crowdfunding for a physical object — in cryptocurrency or fiat. We are incredibly grateful to have done this together with all of you, and we are still in disbelief at how far we have come,” the project team said.

Organisers noted that the DAO had 17,437 donors, with an average contribution of $206.26.

All participants will be able to reclaim their contributed ETH minus gas costs via the Juicebox platform, the team said.

As Sotheby’s announced an auction of two Banksy works, bidders will be able to bid in Ethereum alongside fiat currency.

The auction house first held auctions with cryptocurrency payments in May 2021. The lot was also one of Banksy’s works.